Solidarity with Iraqi workers.
A website for trade unionists in Scotland supporting workers in Iraq (including those currently unemployed) and all the various forms of organised labour.
There are stalls most Saturdays at Noon outside Dunnes on Sauchiehall Street - to check stall is going ahead e-mail:
iraqunionsolidarityscotland@yahoo.co.uk
or phone Mobile: 07979 421 475.
For extensive news , reports and links
on Iraqi workers organisations see
http://www.iraqunionsolidarity.org

Saturday, 30 June 2007

The lives of many Iraqi women have become appreciably harsher following international sanctions and the US-led invasion. Although pleased to see Saddam toppled, some look back on the prosperity and social liberation of the Ba'athist years with nostalgia By Nadje Sadig Al-Ali.

Iraqi women sometimes remember that they have lived in a multi-ethnic,multicultural national entity with a prospering economy and rapid modernisation; at other times they recall repression, discrimination,declining living conditions and sectarian tensions.I have tried to document the diversity of experiences during themonarchy, the years after the revolution of 1958, the economic boom (and the expansion of the middle class) in the 1970s, the Iran-Iraq war from 1980-88, the first Gulf war of 1991 and the economicsanctions of 1990-2003.

Since the United States invasion many under-represented sections of society fail to acknowledge these experiences as different. I feeluneasy when people say "Iraqi women think…" or "Iraqi women want…"because how can that represent such a wide variety of views? The difference in perspectives is historically based and cannot simply be reduced to ethnicity and religion.The period after the first Ba'athist coup of 1963 is associated with increased political violence, greater sectarianism and a reversal ofprogressive laws and reforms. Yet many women remember relative social freedom and cultural vibrancy during the rule of the Arif brothers,1963-68, and the early Ba'ath period, 1968-78.

Many secular, apolitical middle-class Shia, Sunni, Kurdish andChristian women appreciated the achievements of the early Ba'ath period in education, modernisation of infrastructures and welfareprovisions. While those who actively opposed the regime rememberpolitical repression, mass arrests, torture and executions, even somewho had first hand experiences of the regime's repressive practices retrospectively appreciated its developmental policies.

Cosmopolitan Baghdad Women's memories show that an urban middle-class identity, especially the cosmopolitan Baghdadi identity, subsumed ethnic and religious differences even throughout sanctions. A middle-class Shia family inBaghdad had more in common with its Sunni Arab and Kurdishmiddle-class neighbours in mixed neighbourhoods than they did with theimpoverished Shia living in Madina al-Thawra (renamed Saddam city, now Sadr city) or with Shia in the south. Baghdadi families were oftenmulti-religious and multi-ethnic, and mixed marriages were commonamong the urban Baghdadi middle classes.Zeynab, a sympathiser of the Islamist Shia Da'wa party who now lives in Dearborn in the US, said: "We were all friends. We celebrated holidays together. When we had the [Shia] celebration in commemorationof Imam Husein, even Jews and Christians joined us. We never thoughtabout race or religion. Schools were open to everybody. In schools, we had Jewish, Christian, Sunni and Kurdish classmates. There were no badfeelings towards anyone.">From the late 1970s differences between secular and Islamist political positions started to matter more, influencing experiences of the regime. Members or sympathisers of the Da'wa party were targeted not so much for their religious affiliation but because of their opposition to the regime and their aim to establish an Islamic state.No one wants to diminish the suffering that members of the Shia Islamist opposition parties endured, but they were not the onlytargets of state repression; Kurds and others, including Sunni Arabs who actively resisted the regime, all suffered.The Shia Islamists' claim to having been singled out because of religious affiliation rather than political conviction contributes to the current atmosphere in which rights, privileges and power are linked to sectarian divisions and arguments over who suffered most.

Of course, specific atrocities committed by the previous regime should not be swept under the carpet for the sake of national unity. The trial of Saddam Hussein was a missed opportunity to initiate a credible truth and reconciliation process.Many Iraqi women gained socially and economically during the 1970s despite political repression. Living conditions improved for most ofthe population as the state relied not only on force and its power tocontrol, but also devised generous welfare programmes and opened opportunities for investment and capital accumulation that helped many in the expanding middle classes.

Yet, from the 1980s on, political repression, the Iran-Iraq war, thenthe first Gulf war and the militarisation of society began to affectwomen, through the loss of family and economic decline. Under sanctions there was a radical shift; women had less work or access toeducation, and health care and social services declined. Asunemployment worsened and infrastructure collapsed, women were pushedback to their homes. 'All this was cut'Sawsan, an Assyrian woman from the north, worked as a teacher in ahigh school until 1995. She said: "We did not feel it so much duringthe first years of sanctions, but by 1994 it really hit us. Social conditions had deteriorated. The currency had been devalued while salaries were fixed. Many women started to quit work. Some of my friends could not even afford transport to the school. Before sanctions, the school made sure that we were picked up by a bus, but all this was cut.

For me, the most important thing was my children. I did not want them to come home and be alone in the house. It becametoo unsafe. And I know from my own work that schools deterioratedbadly; teachers had to quit work and there was no money for anything. So I felt that I had to teach them at home."Since the 2003 invasion, survival is a priority as lack of security isaccompanied by difficult living conditions. The infrastructure hasfurther deteriorated; lack of electricity, clean water, sanitation and a proper health system are part of everyday life. Intisar, who is adoctor in a teaching hospital in Baghdad, says: "We only haveelectricity for three to five hours a day. There isn't enough cleandrinking water. Lack of sanitation is a big problem, one of the main causes of malnutrition, dysentery and death among young children."

According to recent reports published by Unicef and the British-basedcharity Medact, the occupation has led to a deterioration in health,malnutrition, a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases and increasingmortality rates for children under five (from 5% in 1990 to 12.5% in 2004 according to Unicef). As during the sanctions, women suffer ­often the last to eat after feeding children and husbands. They have to stand and watch while their sick, malnourished children fail to getthe care they need.Even so, women have been trying to improve conditions. Locally-basedwomen's initiatives and groups flourish, answering practical needs related to poverty and the lack of health care, housing and socialservices. Women have pooled resources to address the need foreducation and training (such as computer classes) as well as income generation. Many initiatives filling the gap in state welfare and health are associated with political and religious bodies, butindependent, non-partisan professional women have also mobilised.Leila, a woman's rights activists still living in Iraq, said:'Initially many of us were very hopeful. We did not like foreign soldiers on our streets, but we were happy Saddam was gone. Once thegeneral chaos and the looting settled down a bit, women were the firstto get organised. Women doctors and lawyers started to offer freeservices to women. We started to discuss political issues and tried to lobby the American and British forces. But the Americans sent peopleto Iraq whose attitude was: 'We don't deal with women.' [Presidentialenvoy Paul] Bremer was one. Iraqi women managed to get a woman's quota despite the Americans who opposed it.

Their idea of women's issues wasto organise big meetings and conferences and build modern women's centres. Do you think anyone went to visit these centres?"Threats to women Although bombings of residential areas caused many deaths, Iraqis havealso been shot by US or British troops. Whole families have beenkilled approaching a checkpoint or through failing to recogniseprohibited areas. There are many documented accounts of physical assaults on women at checkpoints and during house searches.

Several women I talked to said they had been verbally or physicallythreatened, and assaulted by soldiers as they were searched at checkpoints. US forces have also arrested wives, sisters and daughters of suspected insurgents to pressure them to surrender (1); in effect taken hostage by US forces and used as bargaining chips. Such arrests cause a sense of shame associated with detention. There is mountingevidence of torture and rape; women identified become potential victims of honour crimes.Women's organisations have also documented Islamist violence to women,including acid thrown into faces, even targeted killings. In 2003 manywomen in Basra reported that they were forced to wear a headscarf or restrict their movements because men began to harass or shout at them.Women of all ages are now forced to comply with dress codes and becareful when they go out. Suad, a former accountant and mother offour, lives in a neighbourhood of Baghdad that used to be mixed beforesectarian killings in 2005 and 2006. She told me: "I resisted for along time, but last year I started wearing the hijab, after I was threatened by several Islamist militants in front of my house. They are terrorising the whole neighbourhood, behaving as if they were incharge. And they are actually controlling the area. No one dares to challenge them. A few months ago they distributed leaflets around thearea warning people to obey them and demanding that women should stay at home."

The threat of Islamist militias now goes beyond dress codes and callsfor gender segregation at university. Despite, indeed partly becauseof the US and British rhetoric about liberation and rights, women have been pushed into the background and into their homes. Women with apublic profile (doctors, academics, lawyers, NGO activists,politicians) are threatened and targeted for assassination. There arealso criminal gangs who worsen the climate of fear by kidnapping women for ransom, sexual abuse or sale into prostitution outside Iraq.It isn't a surprise that many of the women I interviewed remember thepast nostalgically.Original text in English* Nadje Sadig Al-Ali is senior lecturer in social anthropology at the Institute of Arab & Islamic Studies, University of Exeter and authorof Gender, Secularism & the State in the Middle East: The EgyptianWomen's Movements (Cambridge University Press, 2000). Her latest book is Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present (Zed Books,March 2007).(1) Those suspected of being involved in both the resistance as wellas in terrorist activities are regularly detained without informing their families about their whereabouts and their well being.Disappearances, random arrests, torture and abuse in prisons are common phenomena in post-Saddam Iraq

Monday, 25 June 2007

Please see attached a press release and information from Bill Wilson MSP who has lodged a motion in opposition to the privatisation of Iraqs oil. Please contact your MSP via the link below, and ask them to support Bill Wilsons motion. It would help if you could let IUSS know if you get a positive answer, and please circulate this widely.

Sunday, 17 June 2007

See below a clear account by US Labour Journalist and photographer David Bacon about the IFOU's determined struggle to save Iraqs oil from being sold off.

The next IUSS meeting is on Monday June 18th, 7pm, Room 2, Boyd Orr Building, Glasgow University. We will discuss among other things, how we can help the IFOU's struggle for Iraqs oil. All supporters of Iraqs unions welcome.

The Bush administration has no love for unions anywhere, but in Iraq it has a special reason for hating them. They are the main opposition to the occupation's economic agenda, and the biggest obstacle to that agenda's centerpiece - the privatization of Iraq's oil. At the same time, unions have become the only force in Iraq trying to maintain at least a survival living standard for the millions of Iraqis who still have to go to work every day, in the middle of the war.

This week, Iraqi anger over starvation incomes and oil ripoffs boiled over. On Monday, June 4, the biggest and strongest of the Iraqi unions, the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, launched a limited strike to underline its call for keeping oil in public hands, and to force the government to live up to its economic promises. Workers on the pipelines carrying oil from the rigs in the south to Baghdad's big refinery stopped work. It was a very limited job action, which still allowed the Iraqi economy to function.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responded by calling out the army and surrounding the strikers at Sheiba, near Basra. Then he issued arrest warrants for the union's leaders. On Wednesday, June 6, the union postponed the strike until June 11. Labor unrest could not only resume at that point, but could easily escalate into shutdowns on the rigs themselves, or even the cutoff of oil exports. That would shut down the income stream that keeps the Maliki regime in power in Baghdad. Some of the oil workers' demands reflect the desperate situation of workers under the occupation.

They want their employer - the government's oil ministry - to pay for wage increases and promised vacations, and give permanent status to thousands of temporary employees. In a country where housing has been destroyed on a massive scale, and workers often live in dilapidated and primitive conditions, the union wants the government to turn over land for building homes. Every year, the oil institute has miraculously continued holding classes and training technicians, yet the ministry won't give work to graduates, despite the war-torn industry's desperate need for skilled labor.

The union demands jobs and a future for these young people. But one demand overshadows even these basic needs - renegotiation of the oil law that would turn the industry itself over to foreign corporations. And it is this demand that has brought out even the US fighter jets, which have circled and buzzed over the strikers' demonstrations. In Iraq, the hostile maneuvering of military aircraft is not an idle threat to the people below.

This standoff reflects a long history of actions in Iraq, by both the Iraqi government and the US occupation administration, to suppress union activity. Iraq has a long labor history. Union activists, banned and jailed under the British and its puppet monarchy, organized a labor movement that was the admiration of the Arab world when Iraq became independent after 1958. Saddam Hussein later drove its leaders underground, killing and jailing the ones he could catch.

When Saddam fell, Iraqi unionists came out of prison, up from underground and back from exile, determined to rebuild its labor movement. Miraculously, in the midst of war and bombings, they did. The oil workers union in the south is now one of the largest organizations in Iraq, with thousands of members on the rigs, pipelines and refineries. The electrical workers union is the first national labor organization headed by a woman, Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein. Together with other unions in railroads, hotels, ports, schools and factories, they've gone on strike, held elections, won wage increases and made democracy a living reality.

Yet the Bush administration, and the Baghdad government it controls, has outlawed collective bargaining, impounded union funds and turned its back (or worse) on a wave of assassinations of Iraqi union leaders. President Bush says he wants democracy, yet he will not accept the one political demand that unites Iraqis above all others. They want the country's oil (and its electrical power stations, ports and other key facilities) to remain in public hands.

The fact that Iraqi unions are the strongest voice demanding this makes them anathema. Selling the oil off to large corporations is far more important to the Bush administration than a paper commitment to the democratic process. Iraq's oil was nationalized in the 1960s, like that of every other country in the Middle East. The Iraqi oil union became, and still is, the industry's most zealous guardian.Holding a no-bid, sweetheart contract with occupation authorities, Halliburton Corporation came into Iraq in the wake of the troops in 2003.

The company tried to seize control of the wells and rigs, withholding reconstruction aid to force workers to submit. The oil union struck for three days that August, stopping exports and cutting off government revenue. Halliburton left.

The oil and port unions then forced foreign corporations to give up similar sweetheart agreements in Iraq's deepwater shipping facilities. Muhsin's electrical union is still battling to stop subcontracting in the power stations - a prelude to corporate control. The occupation has always had an economic agenda. Occupation czar Paul Bremer published lists in Baghdad newspapers of the public enterprises he intended to auction off. Arab labor leader Hacene Djemam bitterly observed, "War makes privatization easy: first you destroy society; then you let the corporations rebuild it."

The Bush administration won't leave Iraq in part because that economic agenda is still insecure. Under Washington's guidance, the Iraqi government wrote a new oil law in secret. The Iraq study commission, headed by oilman James Baker, called it the key to ending the occupation.That law is touted in the US press as ensuring an equitable division of oil wealth. Iraqi unions say it will ensure that foreign corporations control future exploration and development, in one of the world's largest reserves.

Hassan Juma'a Awad, president of the IFOU, wrote a letter to the US Congress on May 13. "Everyone knows the oil law doesn't serve the Iraqi people," he warned. The union was banned from the secret negotiations. According to Juma'a, the result "serves Bush, his supporters and foreign companies at the expense of the Iraqi people." The union has threatened to strike if the law is implemented. Like all Iraqi unionists, Juma'a says the occupation should end without demanding Iraq's oil as a price. "The USA claimed that it came here as a liberator, not to control our resources," he reminded Congress. Congressional opponents of the war can only win Iraqis' respect if they disavow the oil law.

Whatever government holds power in Baghdad at the occupation's end will need control of the oil wealth to rebuild the devastated country. That gives Iraq's working people a big reason to fight to ensure that happens.

Two Iraqi union leaders, Faleh Abood Umara and Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, are speaking in the United States about their situation in Iraq. For details about times and places, contact US Labor Against the War:

The executive bureau of Iraqi Freedom Congress (IFC) has informed IFIR that US troops raided the IFC headquarters in Baghdad and have arrested five IFC Officers and took all the documents of the organization.

IFC is a mass, democratic, non ethnic secular organization. It fights for the freedom and liberation and retrieving security and stability of the Iraqi people. IFC is the alternative of workers, women and all freedom-loving people to rescue Iraqi society from the black scenario, from the ethnocentric war. IFC’s aim is to end the occupation, sectarian wars and homicide, to expel the US forces and its allies, establish a secular government and obtain a humane life for the Iraqi people.

We condemn the US forces attack against IFC headquarters and demand the immediate release of the detainees and restore all documents to the IFC. At the same time we call on all human rights organizations, trade unions and parties to condemn this deed and demand the release of the detainees. Please send letters of protests to the US Embassy.

Tuesday, 12 June 2007

Urgent Action - Apologies if you have recieved this already. Brent TUC has protested to the Iraqi embassy calling for the troops and arrest threat to be withdrawn.

1. IRAQI ARMY SURROUNDS OIL WORKERS ON STRIKE2. TAKE SOLIDARITY ACTION3. INTERNATIONAL UNIONS CALL FOR TROOPS OUT OF OIL UNION STRIKE************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **1. IRAQI ARMY SURROUNDS OIL WORKERS ON STRIKEOn the third day of an oil strike in southern Iraq, the Iraqi military surrounded oil workers and the prime minister issued arrest warrants for the union leaders, sparking an outcry from supporters and international unions. "This will not stop us because we are defending people's rights," said Hassan Jumaa Awad, president of IFOU. As of Wednesday morning, when United Press International spoke to Awad via mobile phone in Basra at the site of one of the strikes, no arrests had been made, "but regardless, the arrest warrant is still active." He said that the "Iraqi Security Forces," who were present at the strike scenes, told him of the warrants and said that they would be making any arrests. http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070607-080144-8705r************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **2. TAKE SOLIDARITY ACTIONPlease send faxes and emails of support for the union to Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and Oil Minister Dr Hussein al Sharastani. Below is a model letter:Model Letter:Dear Mr MalikiDear Dr Hussein al SharastaniI am writing to express support for the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions in their right to take industrial action over issues relating to their members' economic and social welfare.I am also concerned about the decision to arrest union leaders for deciding to take strike action. I trust that the Union will not be penalised for taking action which is legal according to the Iraqi constitution and a fundamental trade union freedom recognised all over the world.The Union has repeatedly asked for involvement in the drafting of the Hydrocarbon Law but has been ignored. Iraqi civil society should be involved in the decision making process over the future of the Iraqi economy - this includes trade unions.I will be monitoring the forthcoming news from the union and would like assurance that union members will not be harmed or punished for their actions. Yours sincerely,....For the attention of:Prime Minister Nouri Al MalikiMinister of Oil, Dr Hussein al SharastaniC/O Embassy of the Republic of Iraq169 Knightsbridge London SW7 1DWPhone: (020) 7581 2264Fax: (020) 7589 3356E-mail: http://uk.f233.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=lonemb%40iraqmofamail.net Telephone: +44 207 602 8456 Fax: +44 207 371 1652************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **

3. INTERNATIONAL UNIONS CALL ON IRAQI GOVERNMENT TO PULL TROOPS OUT OF OIL UNION STRIKEDue to the Iraqi military surrounding striking Basra oil pipeline workers, the 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) today called on the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to conclude peaceful negotiations with the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) in order to resolve their legitimate trade union demands. The ICEM is calling on all its 384 affiliated trade unions in 124 countries to send messages of support to IFOU. The ICEM is coordinating efforts to assist the IFOU together with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the US Solidarity Center, and the UK's Trades Union Congress.http://www.icem.org/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/2285-ICEM-Protests-Iraqi-Militaryâs-Involvement-iThe TUC has called on the Iraqi Government to withdraw troops from the Basra oil fields immediately. The strike - about wages, bonuses, health and safety, use of temporary workers and the future of the oil industry in Iraq - has suspended delivery of oil to Baghdad and the southern Governates of Iraq. Responding to urgent appeals for solidarity from the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, which called the strike, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Military intervention is not the way to resolve industrial disputes. This strike began only after weeks of negotiation had failed to produce a deal, but negotiation is the only way to end the strike peacefully.' As of Tuesday night, negotiations had recommenced, and workers had returned temporarily to work, but the troops remain in place.http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-13358-f0.cfm

Sunday, 10 June 2007

Iran Mansour Osanloo, president of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company in Iran was last week sentenced to five years in prison, according to the International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (IASWI), based in Canada.

On 28 May, a Tehran “revolutionary court” sentenced Osanloo to four years imprisonment for‚ “acting against national security‚” and one year for “propaganda against the system”. According to Osanloo’s lawyer, the verdict has been given on the phone, but no official announcement has yet been made. Osanloo and his lawyers will have 20 days to appeal the verdict.

Other worker activists continue to be imprisoned in Iran. Mahmoud Salehi, the former President of the Bakery Workers’ Association of the City of Saqez and a well-known labour activist in Iran, reported last week that his kidney problem was becoming extremely painful and his blood pressure has fallen considerably. Salehi was imprisoned in April following the final verdict on his May Day 2004 case.

Saturday, 9 June 2007

According to the leaders of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, the Basra oil pipeline workers will resume their strike on Monday 11th unless their demands are met.The workers struck on Monday 4th. The government sent troops to surround the workplace. Work has resumed and negotiations are underway, but the troops remain. The government had ordered the arrest of four leaders of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions for "sabotaging the Iraqi economy"; they have not actually been arrested, but the arrest warrants remain in force.

For detailed updates and information on how to send solidarity messages, click here and here.According to the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine & General Workers’ Unions: "Earlier strike calls in May [focused around demands including consultation with the union on the proposed new oil law] were postponed after the union gained a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki" - where, according to the union, Maliki accepted all its demands, on paper. Maliki did not deliver.

"The union is currently focussing on two core demands in its strike at the pipeline company:"They demand that the Oil Ministry take action to force the general manager of the pipeline company to resign;

"They demand that the company be financially and administratively independent from the Baghdad-based central ministry, and that the pipeline company be managed locally."ICEM is informed that the reason for the first demand, and the catalyst for... action, is that the general manger of the pipeline company, Adel Aziz, who is based in Baghdad rather than in Basra, blocked the orders of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Mailiki to release delayed benefits due to workers [and] stopped an allowance which the workers are regularly entitled to".All the different Iraqi union movements are united in supporting democracy, opposing Sunni-Shia-Kurdish division, and insisting that Iraq's oil remain public property. With sufficient resources - which they do not yet have - they could begin to unite a majority of the population around such demands, and lay the basis for a political way out.

Support and success for the current strike is vital even on its limited demands, because it can lay the basis for Iraqi workers starting to develop the confidence for a new political direction.

TUC message of support sent4 June 2007TUC supports Iraqi oil workers' strikeThe TUC has sent a formal message of solidarity to Iraqi oil workers striking for better terms and conditions in the south of the country today. The strike was called after weeks of negotiations had failed to produce an adequate response from the authorities to a list of nine demands, and could cut off supplies to the Green Zone in Baghdad as well as the southern Governates of Iraq.At 06:30 this morning, 4 June 2007, workers struck at the pipeline company in Basra, Iraq, bringing an immediate stop to the free flow of oil products including kerosene and gas through the 14-inch diameter pipeline number 42. The pipe transfers oil and gas to Baghdad and the governorates of the central region of the country. The workers are members of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU).In a message to the IFOU, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'your justified demands deserve to be met by the Iraqi government, and we offer you our support and solidarity.'Many of the demands are related to wages and working conditions, including a demand for wage increases; the payment of a previously agreed bonus that is based on the distribution to workers of a proportion of oil revenues achieved by the company; no salary deductions to be made for granted vacation days; and the delivery of land parcels for housing to workers.Further demands are for the recruitment of new graduates; as well as the promotion of workers where this has been stalled. The union also calls for full time permanent status to be given to workers presently classed as temporary contract workers. Faced with increased pollution in oil facilities and evidence that there is a major increase in the incidence of cancers among the workforce the union has also tabled health and safety demands.The TUC joined the international trade union body in the oil industry - the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) in supporting the strike.Background to the disputeThe IFOU, previously known as the GUOE-Basra, and led by union President, Hassan Juma'a Awad Alasady has over 26,000 members throughout the ten state oil companies in the south of Iraq.The strike threat was initially made in a 27 April public letter to the Iraqi Oil Minister, following discussion at the union's Executive Board the previous day in Basra. The meeting formulated a list of demands and the call for a strike was unanimously adopted if the demands were not met by 10 May 2007.The strike date was postponed from 10 May to 14 May as the union entered negotiations with a committee formed by the Iraqi Council of Ministers. No direct negotiations with the Oil Ministry took place and a second postponement of the strike resulted when the Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, agreed to meet the union on 16 May 2007 to avert threatened strike action that would involve all workers and technicians throughout the oil industry of the South, stopping production in all of the oil companies in Basra, Misan, Thi-Qar and Muthanna and affecting all domestic oil products as well as the export of crude oil.The meeting resulted in the creation of a committee tasked with working on finding solutions acceptable to both sides. Although several of the union demands appear to have been fully agreed to by the authorities the IFOU's demands remain unfulfilled, and this led to this morning's strike.The union is currently focussing on two core demands in its strike at the pipeline company:that the Ministry force the general manager of the pipeline company to resign; andthat the company be financially and administratively independent from the Baghdad based central ministry and be managed locally.The catalyst for today's action is that the general manager of the pipeline company, Adel Aziz, who is based in Baghdad rather than in Basra, denied the orders of the PM to release workers' delayed benefits and stopped a 50 000 Iraqi Dinar allowance which the workers were previously entitled to.A second phase of the strike has been threatened to begin tomorrow morning at 06:30 if the IFOU does not receive signals of compliance with their demands. The second phase would expand the strike by closing pipeline number 48 which feeds the southern governorates with oil products.

Further informationFor more information see www.icem.org/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/2260-Threatened-Oil-Industry-Strike-on-IraqAppendix: Letter by the IFOU to Iraqi Oil MinisterHis Excellency The Oil MinisterSubject: EntitlementsSincere SalutationsIt was our hope, after the fall of that statue, to witness the dawn of a new era marked by the recognition of the legitimate rights of our members in the oil sector. This sector that for so long has suffered injustice and been denied equity.Since the advent of this new era, we focused our efforts into effectively thwarting all attempts to exploit this sector and tamper with our resources. You have been informed of how we stalled foreign companies in their attempts to control our oil fields and refineries, and how we forced them to leave.In addition, we worked hand in hand with the ministries and agencies to accelerate the pace of oil production, and to safeguard the means of production, and raise awareness amongst workers of investing to boost the chances of success for the new era.Unfortunately, our demands for entitlements were ignored, despite four years of continued promises by ministry and government officials. In fact, we took our demands to the highest levels of the government. We kept the prime minister apprized of our demands, but were disappointed when we came to realize that our demands fell on deaf ears.Throughout this period we worked to defuse anger and resentment and address criticism leveled by our members who mistakenly thought of us as the ones failing to put forth their legitimate demands. Henceforth:After extensive deliberations, and based on the resolutions that came out of an Executive Board meeting with broad member representation on Thursday 26 April, 2007 at the Gas Corporation's premises in Basra, a strike was unanimously adopted, scheduled for May 10, 2007 in all the company's branches in the south and in the following provinces Basra/Missan Dhi Kar/Al Mouthnana.The strike will go ahead, should the following demands not be completely met:1. Make a determination on land allotment in the Shiite Province 52 and land distribution owned by oil companies, and the parcel in the Tannouma area, a property of the Southern Oil Company.2. Make a determination on oil companies' profits margins on the basis of the amendments to which you agreed and to determine those margins according to the certification/attestation from the south region financial/tax jurisdictions, not according to the formula adopted by the Minister that has been deemed detrimental to our membership.3. Approval of accumulated ordinary unused vacations, and all vacations outstanding for more than 180 days. There is no justification for withholding any of these vacations. We also believe that the resolution issued by the State Advisory Council is not binding, for lack of legal foundation. We empathically insist that there be no salary deductions over the next few years for granted vacations days.4. Granting full time status to temporary workers, notwithstanding the length of service but rather apply a more humanistic approach with those workers who are Iraqi nationals and who deserve a life in this country.5. To hire new graduates of the last two classes.6. Rescind the new unified payment schedule which benefits only a very small number in the sector.7. Promote holders of elementary certificates to the next grade on par to their dismissed colleagues (for political reasons) and address the issue of stalled promotions for workers and others.8. Rescind the 20% deduction from profits paid to the army and recovery of previous years' deductions.9. We ask that those premises become employee-run, similar to other state-owned agencies. We deem the wait and see policy inappropriate, and we are wondering why the oil sector is treated so unfairly.As we are stating the legitimate demands of our membership, it is our hope to obtain the support of those on whom we rely, and whom we supported with our blood in making the political process succeed.It is our hope to reinstate the rights of those who were aggrieved by Iraqi government officials, and eliminate the injustices bestowed on the southern region.We feel, up to the moment of this statement's drafting, that discrimination is continuing, and that the south is treated as the cash cow of Iraq.Our region gave so much to Iraq, but gained little in return. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that pollution in oil facilities has reached a peak, and the incidence of cancer has topped exceeded predictions. We also note, that the ministry pays little to no attention to these incidences that primarily impact the inhabitants in the southern area.We feel as if they are predestined to such a fate - to always give in vain. We are cautioning, that there is a limit to our tolerance. We ask that our demands be met. We feel that enough is enough.Peace and grace be upon you

TUC supports Iraqi oil workers' strikeThe TUC has sent a formal message of solidarity to Iraqi oil workers striking for better terms and conditions in the south of the country today. The strike was called after weeks of negotiations had failed to produce an adequate response from the authorities to a list of nine demands, and could cut off supplies to the Green Zone in Baghdad as well as the southern Governates of Iraq.

At 06:30 this morning, 4 June 2007, workers struck at the pipeline company in Basra, Iraq, bringing an immediate stop to the free flow of oil products including kerosene and gas through the 14-inch diameter pipeline number 42. The pipe transfers oil and gas to Baghdad and the governorates of the central region of the country. The workers are members of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU).

In a message to the IFOU, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'your justified demands deserve to be met by the Iraqi government, and we offer you our support and solidarity.'Many of the demands are related to wages and working conditions, including a demand for wage increases; the payment of a previously agreed bonus that is based on the distribution to workers of a proportion of oil revenues achieved by the company; no salary deductions to be made for granted vacation days; and the delivery of land parcels for housing to workers.

Further demands are for the recruitment of new graduates; as well as the promotion of workers where this has been stalled. The union also calls for full time permanent status to be given to workers presently classed as temporary contract workers. Faced with increased pollution in oil facilities and evidence that there is a major increase in the incidence of cancers among the workforce the union has also tabled health and safety demands.

The TUC joined the international trade union body in the oil industry - the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) in supporting the strike.

Background to the disputeThe IFOU, previously known as the GUOE-Basra, and led by union President, Hassan Juma'a Awad Alasady has over 26,000 members throughout the ten state oil companies in the south of Iraq.

The strike threat was initially made in a 27 April public letter to the Iraqi Oil Minister, following discussion at the union's Executive Board the previous day in Basra. The meeting formulated a list of demands and the call for a strike was unanimously adopted if the demands were not met by 10 May 2007.

The strike date was postponed from 10 May to 14 May as the union entered negotiations with a committee formed by the Iraqi Council of Ministers. No direct negotiations with the Oil Ministry took place and a second postponement of the strike resulted when the Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, agreed to meet the union on 16 May 2007 to avert threatened strike action that would involve all workers and technicians throughout the oil industry of the South, stopping production in all of the oil companies in Basra, Misan, Thi-Qar and Muthanna and affecting all domestic oil products as well as the export of crude oil.

The meeting resulted in the creation of a committee tasked with working on finding solutions acceptable to both sides. Although several of the union demands appear to have been fully agreed to by the authorities the IFOU's demands remain unfulfilled, and this led to this morning's strike.

The union is currently focussing on two core demands in its strike at the pipeline company:that the Ministry force the general manager of the pipeline company to resign; and that the company be financially and administratively independent from the Baghdad based central ministry and be managed locally.

The catalyst for today's action is that the general manager of the pipeline company, Adel Aziz, who is based in Baghdad rather than in Basra, denied the orders of the PM to release workers' delayed benefits and stopped a 50 000 Iraqi Dinar allowance which the workers were previously entitled to.

A second phase of the strike has been threatened to begin tomorrow morning at 06:30 if the IFOU does not receive signals of compliance with their demands. The second phase would expand the strike by closing pipeline number 48 which feeds the southern governorates with oil products.

His Excellency The Oil MinisterSubject: EntitlementsSincere SalutationsIt was our hope, after the fall of that statue, to witness the dawn of a new era marked by the recognition of the legitimate rights of our members in the oil sector. This sector that for so long has suffered injustice and been denied equity.

Since the advent of this new era, we focused our efforts into effectively thwarting all attempts to exploit this sector and tamper with our resources. You have been informed of how we stalled foreign companies in their attempts to control our oil fields and refineries, and how we forced them to leave.

In addition, we worked hand in hand with the ministries and agencies to accelerate the pace of oil production, and to safeguard the means of production, and raise awareness amongst workers of investing to boost the chances of success for the new era.

Unfortunately, our demands for entitlements were ignored, despite four years of continued promises by ministry and government officials. In fact, we took our demands to the highest levels of the government. We kept the prime minister apprized of our demands, but were disappointed when we came to realize that our demands fell on deaf ears.Throughout this period we worked to defuse anger and resentment and address criticism leveled by our members who mistakenly thought of us as the ones failing to put forth their legitimate demands.

Henceforth:After extensive deliberations, and based on the resolutions that came out of an Executive Board meeting with broad member representation on Thursday 26 April, 2007 at the Gas Corporation's premises in Basra, a strike was unanimously adopted, scheduled for May 10, 2007 in all the company's branches in the south and in the following provinces Basra/Missan Dhi Kar/Al Mouthnana.

The strike will go ahead, should the following demands not be completely met:1. Make a determination on land allotment in the Shiite Province 52 and land distribution owned by oil companies, and the parcel in the Tannouma area, a property of the Southern Oil Company.2. Make a determination on oil companies' profits margins on the basis of the amendments to which you agreed and to determine those margins according to the certification/attestation from the south region financial/tax jurisdictions, not according to the formula adopted by the Minister that has been deemed detrimental to our membership.3. Approval of accumulated ordinary unused vacations, and all vacations outstanding for more than 180 days. There is no justification for withholding any of these vacations. We also believe that the resolution issued by the State Advisory Council is not binding, for lack of legal foundation. We empathically insist that there be no salary deductions over the next few years for granted vacations days.4. Granting full time status to temporary workers, notwithstanding the length of service but rather apply a more humanistic approach with those workers who are Iraqi nationals and who deserve a life in this country.5. To hire new graduates of the last two classes.6. Rescind the new unified payment schedule which benefits only a very small number in the sector.7. Promote holders of elementary certificates to the next grade on par to their dismissed colleagues (for political reasons) and address the issue of stalled promotions for workers and others.8. Rescind the 20% deduction from profits paid to the army and recovery of previous years' deductions.9. We ask that those premises become employee-run, similar to other state-owned agencies. We deem the wait and see policy inappropriate, and we are wondering why the oil sector is treated so unfairly.

As we are stating the legitimate demands of our membership, it is our hope to obtain the support of those on whom we rely, and whom we supported with our blood in making the political process succeed.

It is our hope to reinstate the rights of those who were aggrieved by Iraqi government officials, and eliminate the injustices bestowed on the southern region.We feel, up to the moment of this statement's drafting, that discrimination is continuing, and that the south is treated as the cash cow of Iraq.

Our region gave so much to Iraq, but gained little in return. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that pollution in oil facilities has reached a peak, and the incidence of cancer has topped exceeded predictions. We also note, that the ministry pays little to no attention to these incidences that primarily impact the inhabitants in the southern area.

We feel as if they are predestined to such a fate - to always give in vain. We are cautioning, that there is a limit to our tolerance. We ask that our demands be met. We feel that enough is enough.Peace and grace be upon you

Friday, 8 June 2007

In light of the Iraqi army continuing to surround Iraqi workers in their workplaces and the issuance of arrest warrants against Federation leaders, the union is appealing for maximum support and solidarity.We are asking people to email both the Iraqi Prime Minister and the Oil Minister and UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.Here are model letters to send to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and Oil Minister Dr Hussein al Sharastani:

Dear Mr MalikiDear Dr Hussein al Sharastani I am writing to express support for the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions in their right to take industrial action over issues relating to their members' economic and social welfare. I am also concerned about the decision to arrest union leaders for deciding to take strike action.I trust that the Union will not be penalised for taking action which is legal according to the Iraqi constiution and a fundamental trade union freedom recognised all over the world.I therefore ask that the arrest warrants be retracted and that the Iraqi army leaves oil sector locations.

All repressive measures against the IFOU should cease at once.The Union has also repeatedly asked for involvement in the drafting of the Hydrocarbon Law but has been ignored. Iraqi civil society should be involved in the decision making process over the future of the Iraqi economy - this includes trade unions. I will be monitoring the forthcoming news from the union and would like assurance that union members will not be harmed or punished for their actions.

The TUC has called on the Iraqi Government to withdraw troops from the Basra oil fields immediately. A strike of oil workers began on Monday (4 June) and the TUC is asking the Iraqi Government not to use the troops, who arrived in the oil fields on Tuesday and surrounded the strike, to arrest strike leaders or fire on workers.

The strike - about wages, bonuses, health and safety, use of temporary workers and the future of the oil industry in Iraq - has suspended delivery of oil to Baghdad and the southern Governates of Iraq.Responding to urgent appeals for solidarity from the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, which called the strike, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:'Military intervention is not the way to resolve industrial disputes. This strike began only after weeks of negotiation had failed to produce a deal, but negotiation is the only way to end the strike peacefully.'

As of Tuesday night, negotiations had recommenced, and workers had returned temporarily to work, but the troops remain in place.Full details of the strike are on the TUC website:

Tuesday, 5 June 2007

Workers from the Iraqi Pipelines Company in Basra are on strike today.

Workers began the strike at 6.30 this morning by shutting two 14"pipelines carrying oil and gas products inside Iraq.

The strike is over unfulfilled demands tabled by the Iraqi Federation ofOil Unions (IFOU) - of which the Iraqi Pipelines Union is a member - toPrime Minister Maliki on May 16th 2007. The 16 demands focus on improvedworking conditions, pay, land for homes, a reduction in the nationalprice of fuel and crucially, inclusion in the Oil Law drafting process.

Prime Minister Maliki agreed to the Federation's demands and establisheda committee comprised of Ministry of Oil, IFOU and Southern Oil Companyrepresentatives to implement the demands.

Strike leaders say, if the government does not implement the agreement,the 48" crude pipeline to Baghdad will be shut.

Further details including a statement from the union tba

see www.basraoilunion.org and www.handsoffiraqioil.org for furtherupdates

Mansour Osanloo - Freedom Will Come (ENGLISH)

Bring Labor Rights to Iraq

IRAQ UNION SOLIDARITY (SCOTLAND) CONSTITUTION

1) The name of the organisation is Iraq Union Solidarity (Scotland) (IUS(S)).

2) IUS(S) is the Scottish component of the national Iraq Union Solidarity (IUS) campaign.

3) The aims of IUS(S) are the same as those of IUS, save that IUS(S) will pursue those aims specifically in Scotland.

4) The aims of IUS(S) are to build support for Iraqi trade unions amongst trade union organisations and individual trade unionists in Scotland.

5) To this end, IUS(S) will: produce and circulate publicity material concerning Iraqi trade unions; organise public meetings; provide speakers for the meetings of other organisations; raise funds for the TUC Aid Iraq Appeal; circulate model motions in support of Iraqi trade unions; engage in other activities consistent with the overall aims of IUS(S).

Hadi Never Died

PublicationsPublication details
Hadi Never Died: Hadi Saleh and the Iraqi Trade Unions
After the fall of Saddam, Hadi Saleh, the international officer of the Iraqi trade union movement, embodied a new era for free and independent trade unionism in Iraq. In January 2005 he was tortured and murdered by assassins in his Baghdad home. This book is both a tribute to Hadi and a fascinating history of Iraqi trade unionism. It includes many inspiring examples of British and international solidarity with Iraqi trade unions as they struggle to establish the freedom we take for granted. All profits from sales will go to the TUC Aid for Iraq Appeal.
RRP: £ 10.00
http://www.tuc.org.uk/publications/viewPub.cfm?frmPubID=479
Member Price:
£ 10.00
Educational Price:
£ 10.00
Non-member Price:
£ 10.00

PUBLIC MEETING

Solidarity with Iraqi WorkersPUBLIC MEETING
February 6th -7.30 PM STUC Building
Speaker: Mary Senior : STUC Assistant General Secretary
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30 minute Video of Oil workers and other Iraqi trade union federations visit to U.S. organised by US Labor against the war